General Service Medal
TypeMilitary campaign medal
Awarded forOperational service inside Bophuthatswana
Country Bophuthatswana
Presented bythe State President
EligibilityAll ranks
StatusDiscontinued in 1994
Established1991
Ribbon bar
BDF pre-1994 & SANDF post-2002 orders of wear
Next (higher)
BDF precedence:
SANDF precedence:
Next (lower)
BDF succession:
SANDF succession:

The General Service Medal was instituted by the State President of the Republic of Bophuthatswana in 1991, for award to all ranks for operational service inside Bophuthatswana.[1][2]

The Bophuthatswana Defence Force

The Bophuthatswana Defence Force (BDF) was established upon that country's independence on 6 December 1977. The Republic of Bophuthatswana ceased to exist on 27 April 1994 and the Bophuthatswana Defence Force was amalgamated with six other military forces into the South African National Defence Force (SANDF).[3][4][5]

Institution

The General Service Medal was instituted by the State President of Bophuthatswana in 1991.[6]

Award criteria

The medal could be awarded to all ranks for operational service inside Bophuthatswana.[1]

Order of wear

Since the General Service Medal was authorised for wear by one of the statutory forces which came to be part of the South African National Defence Force on 27 April 1994, it was accorded a position in the official South African order of precedence on that date. The position of the General Service Medal in the official order of precedence was revised twice after 1994, to accommodate the inclusion or institution of new decorations and medals, first in April 1996 when decorations and medals were belatedly instituted for the two former non-statutory forces, the Azanian People's Liberation Army and Umkhonto we Sizwe, and again upon the institution of a new set of honours on 27 April 2003.[6][7]

Bophuthatswana Defence Force until 26 April 1994

Nkwe Medal General Service Medal (Bophuthatswana) Independence Medal (Bophuthatswana)

  • Official BDF order of precedence:
  • Bophuthatswana official national order of precedence:
    • Preceded by the Nkwe Medal.
    • Succeeded by the Independence Medal.[6]
South African National Defence Force from 27 April 1994

Nkwe Medal General Service Medal (Bophuthatswana) Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal

South African National Defence Force from April 1996

Nkwe Medal General Service Medal (Bophuthatswana) Operational Medal for Southern Africa

The position of the General Service Medal in the order of precedence remained unchanged, as it was in April 1996, when a new series of military orders, decorations and medals was instituted in South Africa on 27 April 2003.[6]

Description

Obverse

The General Service Medal is a medallion struck in nickel-silver, 38 millimetres in diameter and 3 millimetres thick at the rim, displaying the leopard emblem of the Bophuthatswana Defence Force surrounded by a laurel wreath.[1][8]

Reverse

The reverse has the Coat of Arms of the Republic of Bophuthatswana.

Ribbon

The ribbon is 32 millimetres wide, with a 4 millimetres wide yellow band, a 2 millimetres wide red band and a 4 millimetres wide white band, repeated in reverse order and separated by a 12 millimetres wide red band in the centre.[1][8]

Discontinuation

Conferment of the General Service Medal was discontinued when the Republic of Bophuthatswana ceased to exist on 27 April 1994.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 South African Medal Website - Bophuthatswana Defence Force (Accessed 30 April 2015)
  2. ↑ Republic of Bophuthatswana Constitution Act, 1977
  3. ↑ South Africa Homeland Militaries, May 1996 (Accessed 1 May 2015)
  4. ↑ Peled, Alon (1998), A Question of Loyalty: Military Manpower Policy in Multiethnic States, Cornell Studies in Security Affairs, Ithaca: Cornell University Press, pp. 50f, ISBN 0-8014-3239-1
  5. 1 2 Warrant of the President of the Republic of South Africa for the Institution of the "UNITAS MEDAL-UNITAS-MEDALJE", Gazette no. 16087 dated 25 November 1994.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Republic of South Africa Government Gazette Vol. 477, no. 27376, Pretoria, 11 March 2005, OCLC 72827981
  7. ↑ Republic of South Africa Government Gazette no. 15093, Pretoria, 3 September 1993
  8. 1 2 "Uniform: SA Army: Former Forces Medals - Bophuthatswana Defence Force (BDF)". Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
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